Yours, in Murder
by Billybobjoe47s
Summary: Just as Judy is looking forwards to Nick finally entering the force after his graduation from academy, an attack too close for comfort signals the beginning of a massive crime wave centered around an ominous series of brutal murders. Solving this case will take everything the two have- and even that might not be enough when Zootopia starts to tear itself apart at the seams.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hello, everyone! I don't know why, but this movie just really caught my attention, and so I started writing something about it. A quick note on chronology- this first chapter, the prologue if you will, takes place between Nick's graduation from the police academy and the encounter with Flash and his sports car, when he is an officer proper._

 _Also, in this story, my #1 priority is to try to keep Nick and Judy in character, so if there's ever something which seems off, please, PLEASE, let me know so I can try to fix it. Thanks!_

 _Finally, this story or its sequel may, depending on how I feel, cross over into M for scenes of violence, as I hope to capture the evil and cruelty of the killer fully, and that may not be possible while staying inside a T rating. I'll be sure to warn you all before the chapter that might precipitate the change, however._

 **Chapter 1**

 _Day 0- 10:30 PM_  
 _Pangolin Grand Arms Apartment Complex_  
 _Zootopia_

Seven months. Had it really been that long? Seven months since that first day on the job, though she supposed that it had actually begun six months before that, on her first day at the academy...

Still. Seven months since her first day of duty- the first day wearing the badge she was turning over and over in her hands. Seven months since she'd been stuck on traffic duty, only to stumble into a long-running con scheme run by a sly fox.

And it was only a week later when that same fox would be handing in his papers to apply to the ZPD, after the most harrowing week and the biggest and most dangerous case of her career- the turning point in her life, really.

She couldn't believe it had been that long. The days had gone by in a blur of traffic tickets, petty thefts, and the occasional drug deal. Case after case, handily opened and closed, all while Nick had been at the academy, working his tail off.

She smiled at the thought. If she'd felt like it, she could have scrolled through her texts to find the records of his first few days there. From the words she could still remember, they hadn't been good ones for him. But he'd persevered, and through his unique combination of snark, wits, and determination he'd made it through as the valedictorian of his class- just as she had, with a similar rough start.

She'd officially welcomed him into the force only yesterday, but now, while those seven months with him away had passed like a blur, now the seconds dragged on seemingly without end. Now that he would be coming here, she couldn't wait. She knew Chief Bogo wouldn't dare to try to split them up, and end up with _two_ teams with their particular... mentality, and quickfire method of action. No, he'd put the two of them together, if only to keep them conveniently together where he could keep a close eye and a tight leash on them.

And she couldn't _wait_ for it another moment. She missed his snark and the strange synergy they had- arguing as often as they complimented, but throwing ideas off each other with blinding speed. Oh, the partners she'd had while Nick was away were good, professional, and fun to be around, but they just weren't the same. She'd never say this to them, and she didn't mean any disrespect, but they simply couldn't compare as a team to her and Nick. They were slower, they weren't on the same wavelength- what would have taken her and Nick thirty seconds took them forty, an hour, two.

Of course, she wouldn't complain if she could put that synergy to work on a case _other_ than a city-wide abduction spree and coordinated terror attempt. Something a little more low-key was just fine with her- maybe a drug deal, or nudging Mr. Big further towards the path of legitimacy (being the godmother to his grandchildren did wonders when it came to the leverage she had on him, and hints that going legitimate would keep him around longer for the kids was slowly taking effect on what assets he invested in). Something nice like that.

In any case, he'd be at the precinct in six days; the vacation time between Academy completion and reporting for duty was the same length she'd had.

So engrossed in thought was she, she barely even noticed the customary arguing between Mr. and Mrs. Alces. It happened probably once or twice a week, the shouting matches between the two, and eventually even her neighbors, as loud as they were, had stopped trying to shout them down- their volume was prodigious, and they simply didn't seem to care when anyone else in the building asked them to quiet down. Not even the landlady could, unless she was actually at their door. You knew it was bad when even the glare of Ms. Dharma Trinidad, in all its cold fury, could barely solve the problem for a day.

Still, it was a small price to pay for the cheap room and Ms. Trinidad's no-nonsense maintenance, keeping everything running and fixed promptly.

Her phone buzzed, and she flipped it over idly, expecting a text from Nick as usual. To her surprise, however, he was calling her!

He _never_ called. She could count on her paws the number of times that he had, and it had always been trouble with studying before an academy test (he'd procrastinated and was panicking, of course), or, once, him asking for a short ride in the cruiser to the academy after a weekend off, a snowy day, and a broken alarm clock.

"Hello?" she asked, a tinge of concern and/or exasperation unable to keep itself out of her voice.

"Hey, Carrots," Nick said lazily. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she said. "What do you need help with?"  
"What, I can't just call my friends when I feel like it?" he asked.

"You could," she said, drawing out the words, "but when you _don't_ need something you just text."

"Ouch," he chuckled. "Caught red-handed."

"Dumb fox," she laughed back.

"But this time, I didn't _really_ need anything," he said. "I just want to talk for a little bit." His tone was suddenly serious, and she straightened.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, nothing!" he said hastily. "I've just been thinking about... things. There's been a lot that's changed in my life, and the academy kept me too busy to think on it, and now that I'm six days away from being a cop... gah, I dunno." He made a noise of frustration. "I've just been having second thoughts, you know?"

She frowned. "It's a bit late to turn back now. And if you try to start up another con, so help me, _I will find you,_ and I will drag your tail to the prison myself."

"I know, I know!" he replied. "I don't want to go back to that either, trust me. I guess it's nerves," he chuckled again, but this time it rang hollow. "So I was hoping to just... talk. About what you've been doing for the last seven months. About how great it is to be a cop and all that. So I can be smug over your mistakes."

For a moment, she was silent. Unbidden, her mind flashed back to the sky tram over the jungle. Then, too, he'd tried to wave off something serious with a quip at the end, but she knew he wasn't really feeling it. It was lame, even by his standards.

"Alright," she finally replied. "You want to hear about Weaselton getting busted for doing the exact same thing two days in a row?"

"Would I!" he said. "You know, before you showed up Duke always seemed to slip out of any trouble. How many times now have you arrested him?"

"Eight," she said smugly. "He's getting so many fines he can't be making anything off his bootlegs now..."

"... and then, Francine tries to put the cuffs on him, but this time, the cuffs are too _small_ since he swapped his set out for a smaller set after the mink incident the day before!" Judy told the story, trying to hold back tears of laughter.

Nick, too, was snorting in mirth, but then a knock came at Judy's door. "Hold on Nick," she told him, "Someone's at the door."

"Got it," he replied. "I'll go grab some water while you talk." Muffled footfalls came from his end of the connection as she opened the door.

Outside stood her neighbor Bucky. The antelopes next door were loud and a bit uncouth, but they loved to talk, and Judy'd enjoyed a few nights swapping stories through the walls. "Ah, hello, miss bunny," he said,and Judy's eyes narrowed. What was with the politeness all of a sudden?  
"Yes, what can I do for you?" she asked.

His feet shuffled nervously, and he muttered, "I know you're not on duty, right, but Pronk and I have something we're worried about and we were hoping you could check on it, being a cop and all."

"What happened?" she asked, ears pricking up and swiveling towards him.

"Well, um, you know how the elk upstairs were arguing again, we went and asked the landlady to ask them to quiet down (how ironic, Judy thought, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes). She went upstairs to talk to them, but the yelling got louder all of a sudden and now it's really quiet, so we're kinda worried."

"How long ago did she go up there?"

"40 minutes- about when you started talking on the phone."

Had it really been 40 minutes already? She would have sworn it hadn't been more than ten. And there was no possibility of it being a chat between Ms. Trinidad and the two of them; she'd never seen the armadillo talk with someone for 5 minutes, let alone 40!

"Alright, I'll go check on it. Give me a second to grab my belt."

She closed the door and held the phone against her shoulder as she buckled her police belt around her waist, settling it on her hips and adjusting the taser and tranq gun she kept on either side for the best access.

"I'm back," Nick yawned, with the screech of couch springs as he flopped back onto wherever he was sitting.

"Ok," she told him. "Listen, I'm sorry but something's come up here. Can you stay on the line and grab your radio?"

"Radio? Why?" His voice became edged with concern.

"I just got called on by my neighbor, I've got what might be a DV case upstairs," she said, opening the door and nodding to the antelope still anxiously waiting outside. "If there's something to it, can you relay it to dispatch?"

"Sure," he said, jumping off his feet with the tortured squeals of his couch once again. "Give me 30 seconds."

"Got it," she replied, taking the stairs up to the fourth floor.

The room in question wasn't directly over her room or the Oryx-Antlersons', but it was only one room to the north and one floor up- plenty close to hear the volume of their arguments. But now, it was eerily silent- a very unusual state of affairs for the couple. The door was open a crack, as well, which was doubly unusual. This part of town wasn't a slum, but it wasn't a swanky rich animal's haven, either, and it was a good idea to lock your doors and windows at night. Light spilled into the hallway from inside.

"Hello? Mr. Alces? Mrs. Alces? Miss Trinidad?" She knocked on the door softly. "Anyone home?"

There was no reply, and she frowned, unbuttoning the flap to her tranq gun, and kept one paw on its stock as she nudged the door open with the other.

The Alces' apartment was larger than hers, with a front hallway that branched off into a combination kitchen/parlor on one side, and a bedroom/bathroom on the other. Both doors were closed, and the only thing in the curiously bare hallway was a sole picture of the couple and a flickering lightbulb set in the ceiling.

"Hello?" she called again. "Anyone?"

"Something's wrong," she muttered to Nick.

"Sounds like it. Be careful, Carrots."

She checked the bedroom first, and other than some clothes and assorted toiletries, both it and the bathroom were empty. The bedding was piled up in the bed, messy and disheveled. The window was open, though, and she took a note of it. It wasn't broken and the lock hadn't been jimmied, however, so she let it be and went to check the parlor.

This time, the door was stuck, and she wrestled with the doorknob for a few moments before it finally turned and the door swung open.

The first thing she noticed was Dharma, curled into a ball on the floor in front of her, wicked slash marks clawed across her back.

The second thing she noticed was the blood. It was everywhere- floor, walls, even some had been splattered on the ceiling! It seemed impossible, but it painted the entire room crimson.

Finally, her eyes fell on the two bodies slumped in front of the counter. The Alces looked even worse than the armadillo did, and it was obvious that most of the red in the room had come from them.

She couldn't take a single step, forwards or back, and her breath froze in her throat. She'd never seen such a gruesome sight- not even horror movies could hold a candle to this macabre spectacle. What could do something like this?

"...Carrots?"

Now, the bile came rushing to the top of her throat, and it took a Herculean effort not to vomit all over the floorboards. She gagged and bent over regardless, tears forming in her eyes and thankfully blurring her vision.

"Carrots! Hey! Judy, can you hear me? Judy!" Suddenly, she realized Nick had been calling her name over the phone, with increasing worry.

"I'm here," she said shakily.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so," she replied, "but there's multiple 10-34's here. 3 of them, and they'll all need an ambulance." She retched once again, taking several seconds to fight off the nausea. "We might need a coroner too."  
"A coroner? What happened there?" Nick asked, even as she heard him tuning his radio.

"You don't want to know." She wiped her mouth and turned around, practically sprinting out the front door. "But it's bad. Real bad."

"I'm coming over," Nick said. "No arguments, Carrots. Your job's done."

"Please," she whispered, sitting down heavily outside and sagging against the wall, burying her face in her paws and closing her eyes, trying to fight off the waves of nausea that synchronized with the scene now burnt into her head. "I could use some company right now."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N:_ Here's chapter 2, courtesy of a 13-hour drive on Friday. A few things: First, I'll be adding these Revision/Correction notes (right below this A/N) as a way to tell you all what I've changed as I edit and proofread previous chapters, just in case you want to reread if I change a plot point slightly or rewrite some dialogue to make it flow more naturally.

Also, if anyone wants to beta this, throw me a message and I can give you the link to the site I'll likely be betaing off of, usually posting the first draft for a day or two there before I post here.

 _Revision/Correction notes:_ A minor change has been made to Chapter 1. The first name of the armadillo in the movie has been confirmed via a chapter book retelling the movie as Dharma, and as such the name has been changed.

The location of the building has also been added to keep in harmony with future chapters.

Formatting of emphasis on Day/Time/Location has changed.

 **Chapter 2**

 _Day 1- 12:30 AM_

 _Pangolin Grand Arms Apartment Complex_

 _Zootopia_

"Alright, Officer Hopps, I think that's just about all for tonight," the investigator said smartly, clicking his pen twice, pushing the point in and then out again.

She tried to suppress an eye twitch, not entirely successfully. Dennis, the wolverine sitting across from her, was perhaps the best mammal in the precinct at gathering witness information, and he latched onto contradictions or possible clues like a bloodhound and never let them go. His intuition and probing questions had broken more than one case wide open.

But that _pen..._ it was infamous, it was. The pen in question was a beautiful wooden one, custom-made and engraved with his initials. Whatever wood it had been made of- Judy suspected perhaps some kind of mahogany- was so dark brown that in anything but the brightest lighting it appeared pitch black, save for the gold lettering and the glinting of the pen's nib. It never seemed to run out of ink either, so he must have been refilling it. It was a true masterpiece, if any pen could really be called that, and it was probably more valuable than the top-of-the-line smartphone he kept in his other pocket.

But its sophistication and cost wasn't what made it famous. No, it was that clicking noise. Whenever Dennis got thinking, he had the bad habit of constantly clicking it, and whatever genius had designed the exterior had _also_ made the thing the loudest pen she'd ever heard. You could hear the thing from half a floor away, and it was the bane of the precinct.

And tonight, it had been clicking like mad, and after the first few hundred times, she'd begun to lose patience. Even trying to process the events of tonight, the incessant noise was enough to annoy, and her already badly frayed nerves were close to snapping completely.

"...Officer Hopps?" Her ears twitched as she realized she'd gotten lost in thought, and Dennis coughed. "Want me to repeat the question?"

"Ah, yes," she said, blushing slightly. "Sorry."  
"No, no, it's fine," Dennis waved off. "Heaven knows missing one question in an hour-long interview is better than anyone else I get, let alone an assault witness. As always, you're on-point." The pen clicked again, and she shifted in her seat, trying not to scowl.

"After this question, Judy, you're free to go," the wolverine promised, and set his pen to his notepad. "How, exactly, did you catch wind of this while you were off-duty?"

"My next-door neighbors came over and asked," she replied. "They know I'm a cop, so it was only natural they'd ask me first before calling anyone."

"Mmm, I see," Dennis mumbled, scribbling the information down. "Live nearby, do you?"

"I do," she said. "A floor downstairs."

"Downstairs? Here?" He paused and his pen clicked. "Interesting..."

"Interesting?" Judy asked, catching a hint of something in his voice.

"Nothing, nothing," he said. "Just a little surprised you live here. Well, I'll be out of your fur, then, and you can catch some sleep before the briefing tomorrow." He stood, and the pen clicked one final time. "That's all for tonight, Hopps. Sorry you had to see something like this, but it's good we caught it so fast. I'll see you tomorrow, probably."

She stood as well, and then both of them awkwardly stood for a moment together as they folded the chairs set up hastily in the hallway for the interview, setting them off to the side. The entire floor was cordoned off now, with the forensics and records policeanimals going through the Alces' apartment with microscopes, cataloging every possible thing in the rooms that could be a clue.

She ducked a little bit, ears brushing the yellow crime tape, as she walked over to the stairwell door and pulled it open, before descending a floor, the lights of the cruisers parked outside illuminating the stairs luridly through the narrow window above her head with flashes of blue and red whipping across the walls before disappearing.

As she pushed open the third-floor door, the first thing she caught was a green shirt, and then a telltale flash of orange, as Nick Wilde's ears pricked and he turned towards her from his spot on the wall just outside. "Hey, Judy," he said softly. "Finally done?"

She nodded. "Dennis got every last nugget of info he could out of me," she said with a sigh, "And he's already hard at work piecing the puzzle together."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Dennis?"  
Judy realized that Nick had no idea who Dennis was. Of course he didn't; he'd just graduated the Academy! He'd never even set foot inside the precint yet, let alone met anyone or gotten acquainted with Dennis- and his pen. "Dennis is the lead investigator down at ZPD Central," she explained. "You'll be introduced to Officer Orem next week. He's a wolverine."

"Ah, I see." Nick finally came fully off the wall, stuffing his paws in his pockets and leaning down slightly. "Since I'm not actually part of the ZPD yet, they wouldn't let me through. I'm sure they took great pleasure in making me stand outside for 40 minutes." He shrugged. "Hey, if it means I get the hazing out of the way a week early, it's fine."

"Hazing?" Judy shook her head. "No hazing here, Nick. Bogo would come down on that like a ton of bricks, and nobody crosses the chief on something that stupid."

"No hazing? Well, that's a shame." He slouched, sighing melodramatically.

"Doesn't that mean you won't have to deal with it?" she pointed out, walking past him and down the hall.

"Sure, but that also means I don't have any good excuse to play pranks on whoever shows up after me," he said with a pout. "Not that I won't play pranks anyway, of course, but it's better to have a ready-made excuse if I get caught."

She rolled her eyes. "What was I expecting?"

"Me, of course," Nick chuckled, padding down the hall after her.

Fishing for her keys, she turned the deadbolt and opened it, calling back, "Come on in to my humble apartment."

"Don't mind if I do," he said, but as he crossed the threshold he stopped dead just past the door. "You weren't kidding when you said humble," he said with a whistle.

"I know it's not much, but I don't really need anything else," she said, grabbing the one chair she owned off the desk and sliding it over to him.

"Need, maybe, but don't you ever want a little more space than this?" he said. "I mean, I _know_ I'm making less than you, and my apartment is at least three times this size."

"I'm small, I don't need much space, and besides, I decided to spend my money on other things," she said, settling on the bed.

"Other things? Like what, Carrots? Fancy clothes? Nights out at the club?" Nick's tone of voice was 100% skepticism, and he was right to be skeptical. She'd never admit it, but most of her paycheck went straight to the bank and stayed there- for what, she didn't know.

She huffed out a sigh and turned to face him, only to realize that he was towering over her even more than normal. The bed was lower than the chair, and added onto his natural height advantage, she had to crane her neck to see his face. "Um. Mind if we mind switching seats?"

"Nope," he said, standing and moving out of the way. When she sat down, rather than take her seat, he flopped back onto the bed. "Hm, I can see at least one thing you splurged on," he commented, wriggling slightly. "This mattress is nice."

"Nick!" she complained. "You'll leave fox fur all over my sheets!"

"Too late now," he chuckled, "so I might as well enjoy it."

She frowned, but any remark she would make off he cut off. "So, how are you feeling?" he asked, propping his head up on her pillow and looking over. "You gonna be OK?"

"I think so," she said shakily, "but I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight."

"It was bad, then," Nick replied, making it a statement rather than a question.

"It was bad," she confirmed. "It wasn't the worst thing I've seen... there was a motorcycle accident with a helmetless driver a few months back- You don't want to know," she said, holding up a paw to forestall any questions. "They kept the pictures out of the news for a reason. But this was close, and this time it wasn't a traffic accident."

He nodded. "You need help with anything?"

"I don't think so." The two sat in silence for a few moments. "Actually, it would help if you could return the favor from tonight... just stay here and talk. Help keep my mind off it until tomorrow." She smiled, just the smallest bit. "Then I can get back to work and be professional again. Even Bogo won't begrudge me a day."

"I can stay and shoot the breeze," Nick said. "It's pretty much what I was born to do! And just for you-" he smiled, oozing insincere sachharine sweetness- "I'll try to refrain from any witticisms tonight."

"Thanks, Nick," she said, slumping back in relief.

"No problem," the fox grinned. "Anything in particular you feel like talking about?"

"Well-" she began, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door.

She hopped off the chair and opened the door, to be met by a hunched-over Chief Bogo. The buffalo was, as usual, fully kitted-out, complete with belt pouches, clipboard in hoof. The only unusual addition was the service weapon holstered at his waist, something he usually forewent at the station. "Officer Hopps," he said. "Do you have a moment? I know you're off duty, but this shouldn't take long."

"Sure," she replied, opening the door wider. "Come in."

"Ducking under the mantle to ensure his horns didn't catch, he came in just far enough for Judy to close the door and stopped. As his gaze swept the room, it latched onto Nick, lounging on the bed. Bogo blinked. "Ah, Mr. Wilde," he said, tone neutral. "It's a surprise to see you here, though it means I can hit two birds with one stone."

"Yo," Nick waved with a yawn.

The buffalo ignored him. "Officer Hopps, I'll get right to the point. Ordinarily, I'd give you the day off tomorrow, both because you've effectively taken an extra shift because of this case, and because of the nature of this case. However," he glanced down at the clipboard he was holding, "I'm afraid in this case I can't give it to you.

"We're already stretched thin since some of the organized crime in the city has been more active than usual, and adding this case on top of it means we've got just about every permanent detective and forensics team on-staff actually working a case. Now, we can make up some of the deficit by loaners from the outer-city precincts, and taking patrols off the streets as temporary detectives, but they're also stretched thin, and we simply don't have enough cops." He harrumphed. "Budget cuts, of course, even while we're spending extra money making new training courses and equipment for the smaller mammals joining the academy in droves." He gave a pointed glance towards the two of them.

"That's fine, Chief, I can come in and work on this case tomorrow just like anyone else," Judy said.

"I'm afraid that's not possible either, Hopps."

"What? Why?" she pressed.

"Because, as the first officer on-scene, and as of this moment the first mammal period on-scene, you're a witness. Technically, you're still a suspect, though we all know that's just legal red tap." Bogo adjusted the reading glasses on his muzzle- Judy hadn't noticed he was wearing them in the gloom. "So while I don't legally have to place you on administrative leave- and I won't- you're not allowed anywhere near this case until the city lawyers give the OK. Which means you get to fill in all the _other_ duties I had to pull mammals off to cover this case."

"So, I have a compromise." He flipped a page on the clipboard. "And this is where you come in, Mr. Wilde. You're assigned to join Precinct One in 5 days, correct?"

"Right on the money."

"Would you be willing to come in tomorrow?" Bogo asked. "We'd be paying time-and-a-half for cutting your vacation short, of course."

"Tomorrow?" Nick sat up, ears pricking but tone nonchalant. "That's awfully short notice..." He tapped a claw on his chin. "I dunno, Chief. I have some plans for the week I don't know if I can cancel so quickly."

"What plans?" Judy asked, shooting a hard look at him, but Nick hushed her.

"Important plans, Carrots." He looked over at the police chief. "I don't think I can cut a meeting with my family short for time-and-a-half pay," he prodded.

Bogo sighed. "Fine. Double pay."

"You got a deal!" Nick said, standing from his seat and offering his hand. "Er, Chief."

"Deal," the buffalo said, taking Nick's outstretched paw and gripping it tightly. Very tightly.

As the fox winced, Bogo said gruffly, "I expect both of you at 8 o'clock sharp for the morning briefing. Have a goodnight." Only then did he release the fox's paw and open the door himself.

"Get some rest, Hopps, Wilde." The door closed.

Nick shook his paw and massaged it with the other. "He's got quite the grip," he gasped.

"The chief takes things seriously, Nick, but if you try things like that he will respond," Judy smirked. "He's almost as good as you when it comes to pressuring mammals into what he wants, even if you wouldn't know it from looking. And his position as precinct chief gives him a lot more weapons in his arsenal."

"Oooh, a challenger appears," Nick smiled. "I get the feeling we'll get along just fine."

"Nicholas P. Wilde, don't you _dare_ try to stir something up on your first day," Judy warned sternly.

"Scout's honor," he replied, holding one paw up. "I won't do a single thing on the first day."

Satisfied by the promise, she slipped past him, grabbing the sheets and pulling them off the bed, along with the pillowcase. "I'll be right back, I'm going to dump this in the laundry downstairs," she told him.

"Ouch, obviously I'm not appreciated."

"Not on my bed, you aren't," she shot back, propping the door open with one foot as she gathered both the bedding and her little box of detergent. "If I don't wash it now it'll work into the fibers and I'll get itchy fox fur in my bed for weeks." She wrinkled her nose. "No thank you!"

"How do you know that?" he asked, eyebrows waggling. "Experience with foxes?"

"Older siblings. Eighty-seven of them." she said dryly. "Even rabbit fur is annoying when it's not your own, and your fur is much longer than a rabbit's."

"Touche."


	3. Chapter 3

_Day 1- 7:52 AM_

 _ZPD Precinct #1- City Center_

 _Zootopia_

Judy yawned as she shoved the door open, Nick slipping in behind her. "Morning, Clawhauser," she called to the reception desk in the middle of the lobby.

"Judy, hi!" Clawhauser called back, waving. "Got a moment?"

"Sure," she said. "The briefing doesn't start for another 5 minutes."

She walked over, and as Nick followed, the portly cheetah cocked his head and studied him. "...You must be Nick, Nick Wilde!" he said after a moment. "Right?"

"That's me," Nick said.

"Good, I didn't think there were any other foxes being assigned here, but I never remember those lists," Clawhauser said, taking a bite out of his customary donut of the morning. "You're here earlier than I thought you were supposed to be, though."  
"Chief Bogo called me in early," he sighed melodramatically.

"Ouch." Clawhauser winced. "Is it because of last night?"

"Yep."

The cheetah nodded. "Heard about it through the dispatch channel. Sorry you had to see something like that, Judy," he said, leaning back. "Back when I was new, I was lucky. I never had anything like that, and I've been at reception ever since. Mostly, I just coordinate stuff for the animals that do, and that's bad enough."

Judy smiled. "Thanks, Ben. Want to introduce yourself to Nick?"

He blinked. "Whoops!" He shoved the rest of his donut in his mouth, and then through it, said, "Nick Wilde, nice to meet you. I'm Benjamin Clawhauser; I run reception and daytime dispatch." The cheetah stuck out a paw, a few sprinkles still stuck to it.

"Nice to meet you," Nick said, taking the paw and shaking it gingerly. "Nick Wilde, brand-new cop and resident wise guy." His eyes flicked to the clock. "We'd better go, Carrots, it's 7:56."

"Right," Judy said, leading the way to the briefing room. "This way, Nick!"

Nick nodded to Clawhauser, and then followed behind the bunny, wiping his paw on his shirt and flicking off the sprinkles. "He loves his donuts, doesn't he?" he said. "Saw the box on the desk. Does he really eat a box a day?"

"Two," Judy replied. "Three, if he gets stuck running dispatch on a case past his shift."

"Two?! That's a _lot_ of donuts," Nick laughed. "No wonder he's running reception!"

"Don't let the flab fool you," she warned. "Chubby or no, Benjamin is still a cheetah. He's not the fastest on the precinct, but, judging by your times on the runs in the academy-" she flashed him a grin- "he's still ahead of you."

"Wait, really?"

"Yep." She smirked. "The academy is good for a baseline, but you'll want to have a more strenuous workout than that if you're planning on chasing perps. Just about everyone here is faster than the requirements to pass."

The fox groaned. "More running? You're killing me, Carrots."

"It's not so bad," she said, opening the door to the briefing room. "It's better than losing a suspect, anyway. The Chief _will_ put you on a regimen if you do, and it _will_ be twice as hard as if you just kept in shape yourself."

"Bogo's a real hard case, isn't he?" Nick muttered as Judy took her customary seat at the front of the room.

"He is the chief of the premiere precinct in Zootopia- probably the country, Nick," she reminded him. "There's a reputation for him to uphold."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved off. "I get it. Doesn't mean he's not a killjoy, though."

"Being a killjoy makes me effective, Officer." Bogo's voice startled them both. They turned to see him sticking his head out the door to the briefing office, reading glasses perched on his snout. "And I have more than enough clowns and loose cannons to keep track of as it is." He gave the two of them a pointed look. "Briefing starts in 2 minutes." His head retracted, and the door shut.

One of the other officers in the room stifled a snicker, and though both of them swiveled their ears and looked around the room, all the others wore expressions of the utmost professionalism.

"Oh, so he plays it straight," Nick said, comprehension dawning. "That's how he gets you."

"Nick, what did I tell you about starting something with the Chief?"

"I'm not, I'm not!" He grinned. "Just trying to get to know my new boss, nothing wrong with that, Carrots. He's not my style, but I think we'll get along fine."

She sighed, paws covering her eyes. "Of course you're thinking of starting something."

"Dismissed," Bogo said, tossing the clipboard onto the podium. "Except for you two, Hopps, Wilde."

The others filed out of the room, leaving the fox and bunny alone.

"Since you're new, I have to get you put into the system since you'll be using one of our cars today," Bogo said. "Also, Hopps, I want you at the evening briefing before you go home. That's when the initial report on last night's incident will be ready. You can't work on the case, but it's only fair you know our progress."

"What about me?" Nick asked.

"I don't care," the chief replied. "Go to the briefing, stay, whatever you want. You're not involved, but since the new mayor is now breathing down my neck about _both_ of you-" he massaged his temples, "I can't do anything to appear discriminatory, even though it would just be standard operating procedure for any new officer." He sighed. "So the briefing is also available to you. But if you speak a word about the briefing to anyone besides Officer Hopps, your probation will be over and you will be on the street again. Understand?"

"Crystal clear," Nick replied. "My lips are shut."

"Then come with me," Bogo said, turning and exiting out the main door. "The garage and the armory are downstairs."

At the end of the hallway was a stairwell leading down to the precinct parking garage. Half the cars were the officer's home sedans and assorted other cars, and the other half was taken up by the patrol cars this morning's officers would soon be taking to their various patrol areas.

"This car is yours for the week," Bogo said, rapping the roof of one of the average-sized patrol cars. "It's a bit big, but we've refitted the inside for two mammals of your size- at considerable cost." He fixed the two of them with a serious glare. "Scratch this and you'll spend a month on foot patrol.

"Otherwise, it's got all the standard gear in the trunk and it'll handle as well as any other car on the force, if not better since it's now mostly empty space."

Pulling out his phone, he tapped a few buttons and then held it out. "Pawprints, please."

First Judy, than Nick, placed a paw on the phone, as it read and stored their pritns. "Right, you're checked out. To the armory."

Reentering the stairwell, they went up a flight to a door with no handle and a single peephole. Unlike most of the station doors, this wasn't oak or plywood but solid steel, and the walls around it were built to match. Taking his ID out of his pocket, the chief pressed it against the pad on the wall, which flashed a green LED as the door swung open.

"Wilde, this is the armory for Precinct 1. I'm sure you saw something like it at the Academy, but this is the most extensive armory in the city, and it takes up this entire floor."

Inside was a desk with two bored cops, a badger and a wolf, who quickly straightened as they saw Bogo coming through the door. "Here's checkout. The only room you don't have to go through these gentlemammals for is the one with the body armor, to the right over there.

"Otherwise, the procedure goes like this." He strode over to the desk. "I need a new basic equipment set."

"Name on it?"

"Wilde, Nicholas." The chief jerked a thumb at the fox, who waved. "Medium-sized, fitted for a fox."

"Oh, we just got the set in," the wolf remarked. "Body armor's all checked in and ready to go in the locker; no nametag, though." As he spoke, the badger went through the door behind him as the wolf started to rummage beneath the counter, bringing up a keycard. "Temporary armory card, good for a week. Within seven days you'll get your full ID card, which'll get you in here and into the body armor, as well as anywhere else you need to go." He slid it over, and Bogo took it and handed it to the fox. "Don't lose it."

The badger came back, lugging a belt. "Prefitted belt," he huffed. "This one's got a close-up and a ranged taser, pepper spray, and a baton." He dropped it on the desk. "Ranged taser's variable-setting, can take out anything from a rabbit to an antelope. For the bigger or tougher ones, pepper spray or a few tasers might do it, or if that fails, one of these close-ins will knock down even the toughest elephant." He waved said taser at the fox. " _Don't_ use this one on smaller animals.

"Finally, three sets of handcuffs, small medium large, and one rodent containment belt," the badger said. "Additional cuffs, belts, or jackets are in the trunk of your patrol car, if you need more or you're out on foot we can provide more with no extra authorization. Anything else, talk to the Chief first."

"Gotcha," the fox said confidently. "I can take this, right?"

"Yep, go ahead." The wolf nodded along. "Just bring it all back in perfect condition tonight; we still gotta put your name on all of this stuff."

"I'll bring it back spick-and-span," Nick promised, taking the belt and buckling it on.

"Go get some body armor and put it on," Bogo said. "We're not required by law to wear them. However, you're required by _me_ to wear one at all times on-duty. I'm not going to be responsible for any dead mammals if it can be avoided."

He left with the parting words, "Get to work, Officers. You know what to do."

 _A/N: Not much to say, and no corrections on previous chapters. One thing- my OpenOffice spellchecker has committed seppuku again, and deleted the entire word bank, so if you see any spelling errors point 'em out, because I can't see them when I'm writing._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Well, I cannot apologize enough._

 _Things have been... bad the past two months. Exams, personal issues, and to top it off a broken laptop._

 _But I'm back, I passed all my classes, and I bought a new laptop (cost me a month's salary, ugh). I'm gonna try to attempt monthly updates at the least._ _Anyway, without further ado, the chapter:_

 **Day 1**

 **5:23 PM**

 _ZPD Precinct #1- City Center_

The patrol today had been uneventful- the biggest thing had been a handful of speeding tickets. Unfortunately, the ease of today's patrol was increasingly becoming an outlier- the increase in gang and organized crime rates had been increasing slowly for months, but in the past weeks it had gone from a slow burn to a sharp spike, and nowadays a day that went by without a robbery or a knife fight was a rare one.

Even an uneventful patrol took its toll, though, and both Judy and Nick were sipping on cups of coffee as they parked the cruiser and dropped off the body armor and utility belts in the armory.

"Evening briefing time," Judy said, stifling a yawn. "Let's see what Dennis and the others have put together so far."

Nick nodded, draining the rest of his cup and tossing it in the trash as they trekked down the hall to the briefing room. "And you get to introduce me, too! It'll be a regular party."

"You can introduce yourself," she huffed. "I'm your senior officer, not your babysitter."

She was focused on her coffee, and didn't notice the slow grin that spread across his muzzle. "Alright, Carrots, I got you. One self-introduction, coming right up!"

Pushing open the door, they found themselves to be the first ones inside- not unreasonable, being seven minutes early. Veterans had long since learned how to squeeze every minute of off-duty time they had, and it would be 3 or 4 minutes until most arrived.

By the time the first mammal had arrived (as usual, it was Rhinowitz), Judy had also finished her coffee.  
"Hello!" Judy said with a wave.  
"Officer Hopps," Rhinowitz replied, with a slight smile. "Nasty business last night; I was on the cordon downstairs." He looked her up and down. "Looks like you're on top if it, though. Wouldn't be able to tell that you found that scene if I wasn't there."

She nodded. "Just doing my job."

Nick leaned his chair back and waved as well.

"A greenhorn?" Rhinowitz asked. "And a fox, too... you must be Wilde."

The fox frowned. "Does everybody already know who I am? A fox can't introduce himself properly if everyone already recognizes him."

"Hard not to when you got an article in the papers." The rhino paused and smirked. "And when Hopps here is always spinning yarns about the Nighthowler Case. You'd think you were eight feet tall, had an IQ off the charts, and could breathe fire the way she tells it."

Her ears fell as she blushed in embarrassment. "James!"

Nick smiled. "So she lays it on thick, eh?" Practically preening, he chuckled, "I may not be eight feet tall or breathe fire, but I _am_ quick on the draw. Especially compared to a dumb bunny."

Judy elbowed him, still mortified, and even getting the wind knocked out of him couldn't put a dent in Nick's smug expression. "Carrots, I know I'm amazing, but you don't need to exaggerate my exploits. They're plenty impressive as-is."

"Shut up," she muttered.  
"Sure, sure," he said. "Doesn't look like I need to sing my own praises, anyway- you're obviously willing to do it for me!" Judy groaned, and covered her eyes as she put her forehead on the table.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she berated herself, swatting away Nick's paw as he ruffled the top of her head. "Nicholas Wilde, you are absolutely infuriating."

"I know!" he laughed. "But you can't get enough of it."

She sighed, and Rhinowitz interjected, "Looks like you've already got the banter down, too. You'll do great as partners." He turned and greeted Snarlov as he trudged in, and Judy deigned not to reply any more to Nick, who she knew was still smirking at her.

"You know, for a dumb bunny you were pretty amazing too," he said in her ear. "Guess I'll have to repay the favor." She could practically hear his grin. "Wanna bet I'm a better yarnspinner than you?"

"No bet."

"By the end of this week you'll be _nine_ feet tall and eating nails for breakfast."

She resumed banging her head on the table. "I hate you."

"No you don't."

She choked back a growl and sighed again.

"Alright everyone, settle down," Bogo called as he entered the room. "We have a big case to go over, as you all know, and I don't have time to waste.

"But first, nightly assignments." He called a few names- fewer than normal- and dismissed them. The rest of the mammals remained.

"Most of you are going to work tonight on the new assault case, either running security at the hospital, assisting forensics, or combing the area for clues." Bogo frowned. "Actually, it's now a murder case. Unfortunately, one of our three victims- the male deer, Mr. Alces- passed away early this morning at the hospital. The other two are still in critical care, and both are currently sedated, so that avenue of questioning is closed until the medical staff are confident enough to wake one of them up."

Judy's ears fell at the news, but her jaw clenched in anger.

"Forensics is still going over the scene, but this is what we know so far. Late last night, around 11 PM, Officer Hopps responded to a personal request while off-duty and discovered the scene. The attack seems to have taken place sometime between 10 and 11 PM by her and the other two witnesses'- two antelopes, the Oryx-Antlersons- statements. From their accounts, it appears the couple was arguing, and the landlord was asked to intervene to keep the noise down. About 40 minutes later, Officer Hopps was asked to investigate after a long period of silence. This was not an incident internal to the Alces household- none of the three victims have claws large enough to have caused these wounds.

"The three victims were the Alces couple, two deer, married, tenants of the apartment in question, and Dharma Trinidad, armadillo, the landlord of the Grand Pangolin Arms, the building the apartment is in."

The chief grabbed a clicker off the podium and hit it, turning on the ceiling projector. "Here are the photos of the crime scene."

The projector warmed, and after a few seconds an image of the scene, taken from the door of the room, popped into view. Several policemammals stifled curses or gasps. "As you can see, this attack was brutal. The instruments used appear to be nothing more than claws." A second picture came into view, this one showing the spatters of blood on the walls and ceiling. "Most of the wounds are fairly shallow, suggesting slashing rather than stabbing motions. The cause of death for Mr. Alces was blood loss and ensuing complications- none of the wounds damaged internal organs, other than arteries and veins."

"Forensics is still going over the scene, but one thing has become evident- the blood spatters are not entirely natural. The culprit at least partially spread the blood themselves to result in this extreme amount of coverage. Had this pattern been natural, all three victims would have died very quickly, and the pattern would be more random.

"Unfortunately, despite this crude and abhorrent act, we have been unable to recover any trace evidence or DNA from the scene thus far. It appears the culprit was quite thorough in preventing or removing evidence, with one exception."

He clicked to another side, showing the Alces' bodies. "The crime was not sexual in nature- none of the victims show any sign of sexual assault or mutilation. The crime was also not financially-motivated- no jewelry, credit cards, cash, or any other valuables were taken from the scene. It appears that Mrs. Alces was attacked first and that Mr. Alces attempted to intervene to save her, as he was found on top of her and with severe wounds to the arms and chest. The other victims show many more injuries on their back and head, suggesting that they were attempting to cower or run away as they were attacked."

The next slide showed Dharma's body. "The landlord was found several feet away from the other two victims. She appears to have attempted to run and been attacked last. This does indicate a disturbing fact, however- the attacker was fast enough to assault Mrs. Alces, fend off Mr. Alces, and then pursue Ms. Trinidad before she could even make it to the hallway.

"The slashes are generally consistent with an animal larger than a fox, likely indicating a large predator as the culprit."

The next pictures were of the other areas in the apartment. "There are no signs of breaking and entering, though the front door was unlocked."

"All of these facts paint a disturbing picture- a large, fast predator somehow managed to gain entry into the Alces' apartment without alarming them initially- perhaps they were even let in. Then, the culprit quickly attacked all three, subduing or harming them enough to prevent them from effectively resisting. Then, they smeared blood across the walls, and left our only piece of evidence. Forensics is still working on it, but it could be the case that many of the wounds were inflicted _after_ the victims were subdued."

Bogo coughed once. "This reconstruction already indicates that the culprit had likely planned this attack in advance and had some experience or knowledge of both the intended victims- likely the Alces- and the method of attack. The sole piece of evidence left behind, however, leads me to think that these attacks are almost certainly not the last from this culprit."

He hit the clicker a final time. "This was found on the near wall of the apartment- Officer Hopps couldn't recall it because it was out of her view. It appears to have been handwritten, and as you can all see, it's not in ink or pencil."

The slide showed a single piece of paper, attached to the wall with a single piece of clear tape. On it were two words, in large block letters, written crudely in blood.

"HELLO, ZOOTOPIA."


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I forgot to upload a chapter here when I thought I had, apologies! The chapter I uploaded yesterday is actually chapter 6. This is the real chapter 5._

 **Day 2**

 **6:01 PM**

 _ZPD Precinct #1- City Center_

"Any further developments, Chief?"

Bogo looked up from his podium and shook his head. "Nothing much. Forensics confirms the note was written with a claw or finger, but no trace evidence there either. And both our surviving victims are still sedated." He sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, we don't have anything to go off. Unless- until- the culprit attacks again, or one of the victims is stable enough to talk _and_ has a good description, I don't know if we'll be able to determine anything more than we already have. Perhaps a psychological profile, but that's all."

He sighed. "Unfortunately, this animal is smarter than the usual breed of criminal, and that means we're playing catch-up in a game where the stakes are lives." He stood, placing his glasses in his pocket. "I know we'll catch him eventually. But eventually isn't much comfort when you're standing next to a grave.

"Hopps, Wilde, get headed home. We'll need you bright and early tomorrow, and pulling another extended shift."

"The robbery down by the dockside, right?" Wilde asked, standing and stretching.

Bogo nodded. "Another case I don't have enough officers to cover."

He turned and began to exit. "So, I'm going to have to lengthen your patrol route tomorrow. Be prepared."

Nick groaned, but the buffalo paid him no mind as he shut the door to the briefing office.

"What are the odds, a brand-new rookie cop like me coming in right on the heels of the biggest crime wave in years?" he lamented. "Double patrol routes, extended hours... not what you promised me, Carrots!"  
"It's not my fault," she retorted. "How about searching for a silver lining? Don't be a grumpy detective on your first week on the job. You're acting like you're a 30-year veteran with a cane and grey fur."

"Alright, alright," he said, tapping his chin. "Silver lining... silver lining... oh! I think I know one." He grinned. "What are the odds that a brand-new rookie cop like me is getting paid more than _you,_ the hero of Zootopia, thanks to his amazing deal-making skills?" He buffed his badge nonchalantly. "I'd say they're pretty close to 100% when you look at my conversational ability."

It was true, his double pay for coming in a week early combined with the extended hours (also double pay, though she had _no_ idea how he'd managed that!) meant he was making more than her at the moment.

Significantly more.

But that didn't mean she wasn't annoyed at his smug attitude. "Let's just go and get some sleep," Judy huffed.

Nick's grin only widened at the proof he'd gotten to her.

 _ **8:45 PM**_

Judy's eyes opened blearily. The phone on her nightstand was ringing, and she reached for it and hit the answer button. "'Llo?" she mumbled.

"Miss Hopps?" It took a moment for the freakishly deep tone to register, and then her ears shot up and her eyes widened.

"Koslov?"

"Yes, Miss Hopps." The bear's tone softened. "I appear to have caught you at a poor time. My apologies."

"It's alright," she replied. "Did Fru Fru want to do something tonight?"

"I'm afraid today I am calling on behalf of my employer," Koslov said seriously. "He has some business he wishes to discuss with you- in both an official and unofficial manner."

Her heart shot into her throat. "Did he mention to you what it was about?"

"No, Miss Hopps," the bear said.

"I see," she said calmly. "Should I bring Nick?"

"That would be for the best. He has begun his new career as your partner, I understand?"

"That's right." She wasn't surprised at his knowledge of the fact despite the fact it hadn't been publicly announced. It wasn't hard to find reports of a fox officer from any associates of the low-level offenders that they'd already busted, and Koslov knew plenty of those.

"Then I would recommend he accompanies you. Mr. Big has asked you come at your earliest convenience."

"Tonight?" This was very, very worrying. "Official capacity" meant he wanted to give information to the ZPD. "Unofficial" meant he wanted to tell her something more, something he likely couldn't tell her as an officer- but could as a close family friend and godmother to his granddaughter. The advantages this double role offered her, and him, were immense, but it was not to be used lightly, and on only one other occasion had he used it.

"I'll be there in an hour."

"Thank you for your time," Koslov offered. "The discussion should not take long, I'm told." He put his paw over the phone for a moment. "You may also want to bring a camera. That is all, Miss Hopps. We shall see you in one hour."

The phone went dead, and she put it down and let out a shaky breath, before picking it back up and dialing Nick.

"Hm? Whozzis?" He answered muzzily. "Carrots? Why'd you wake me up?"

"Koslov just gave me a call," she said. "And we've got a meeting in an hour. I'm told it's important."

"Kos- well, that's a nice development. I'll be at your place in 15. Uniforms?"

"No."

She could practically hear his grimace. "Joy. Make that 10 minutes." He, too, had woken up already.

A tipoff from Zootopia's #1 crime boss did that to an animal.


	6. Chapter 6

For all the secluded airs that Mr. Big's arctic mansion gave off, it was only a few blocks from a spur line of the ZPT trains, and Nick and Judy hustled off the train in full coats and hats within 40 minutes of the call. There was a car waiting for them, staffed as usual by Manchas.

"It is good to see you, Judy, Nick," the panther said, "but the timing of our latest meeting doesn't fill me with joy."

"Sorry about making you get up so late for this," Judy apologized.

"Oh, no!" he chuckled, "I work the night shift on weekdays, and on-call for the weekends. That's not what has me worried. No, it's the fact you two are here at the same time as I am, with no previous warning. I don't know a lot about the business, but I know enough that something very serious has happened." He glanced back at them for a moment, unconsciously rubbing the scars over his eye. "And the last two times I've had unexpected pickups at night have been troublesome."

He coughed, suddenly aware of what he'd said. "But you two did manage to keep me out of the worst of it last time, and you saved me the time before that. If I'm going to be in the middle of these meetings, there's not a better pair I could wish for. Apologies for the grumbling."

Judy rubbed her shin, tracing the thin scar running along it. "It's fine, Renato."

The car pulled into the driveway. "Here you are," Manchas said, stepping out of the driver's seat and opening the door for the two. "The last train will be gone by the time you're finished, I've been told, so I'll be here to take you both back after the meeting."

Nick and Judy were escorted into the mansion and the familiar office room they'd been in many times before. Mr. Big was already there, seated in his chair with Koslov looming behind them. "Good evening, Nicholas, Judy," the shrew said. "I apologize for the inconvenient time, but I have something I think you'll find is quite important." He sighed. "And I would like to solve this particular case as much as the ZPD does. I'm afraid there isn't any time for pleasantries either."

Koslov laid a picture on the desk.

"Mr. Alces," Nick said. "He worked for you?"

"In a way," Mr. Big replied. "He was an accountant for one of my businesses. He wasn't aware of any of my other dealings, but he did assist me with moving funds from it to other investments I have begun in recent years. I have never met him personally, but I respected his work."

"But why is it so important to you?" the fox asked.

In response, Mr. Big crooked a finger and Koslov laid another picture on the desk. This one was of a giraffe neither of the cops recognized. "This is Mr. Lythe. He was a nurse I kept on my payroll for any injuries I did not wish to bring to public attention." Koslov put another picture down.

"This was what my employees found five nights ago when they went to have an injured comrade treated." The picture showed a room splattered with blood- eerily similar to the Alces'. "Mr. Lythe was found with slashing wounds all over his body. The employee brought to treatment had been found in a similar condition. He survived. Mr. Lythe did not."

The room was silent for a moment. "Why haven't you told the police?" Judy asked.

"I just told two trustworthy officers, and I'm willing to share everything my organization has found," the shrew replied, Judy nodding begrudgingly. "Once is an unfortunate accident. Two is a bad week for my organization or someone making a poor choice. Three?"

Mr. Big leaned forwards. "Three is a deliberate pattern. Someone is targeting my organization. Perhaps me personally. And they're killing my employees to do it." His eyebrows furrowed. "I am no stranger to violence, but only as a last resort. I have no ransom notes, I have no demands, no motive. I remember the days before I became the boss. I have _no desire_ to go back to the rampant hits and drive-bys of my early days in the underground. It's bad for business, and it's bad for my people. Mr. Alces wasn't even involved in any of my greyer employs. He was a perfectly straight deer who was killed merely to send a message.

"This goes against everything I have built my organization to be, and I am quite sure this is intended to show me as weak and impotent, unable to protect my people."

Mr Big leaned back, suddenly spent. "I know you disapprove of my ways, Judy, but you know I've tried to change. To bring a measure of civility and restraint into these businesses. I thank you for persuading me to do so, even more than I had previously. But this? This I _will not_ allow. I am giving this information to you in the hopes that the ZPD can track down the culprits and put them away."

He swiveled around in his chair and stood. "But know that if they elude the law, they will not elude me. And I will not be quite so kind as the police to someone who has harmed the animals I am responsible for. Anything or anyone you need, I will give it to you. You have one month until I begin using other means. Koslov will tell you anything else I need to know. If you'll excuse me."

The shrew was swept up in the polar bear's paw and escorted out of the room. Koslov soon returned. "I am sorry for the abruptness of this meeting, once again," he said. "Mr. Big is quite angry about the matter and he is exhausting himself trying to hold back." A folder appeared from underneath his suit jacket. "This holds copies of all the pictures we have taken, as well as short summaries of the crime scenes. You'll find them to be quite detailed. I will be available at any time for you to inquire about additional information or resources, and Mr. Big will undoubtedly want to see you again. Now, Mr. Manchas' car awaits you."

The ride back was silent, as Nick leafed through the folder they'd been handed. Judy stared at her paws, fingers interlaced tightly.

This case was rapidly growing in scope and out of control. A brutal assault, now serial- and not only that, but a series apparently targeting Zootopia's largest crime lord? Even the Night Howler case seemed less labyrinthine and vicious than this was already shaping up to be.

Murder was rare even in inner-city Zootopia (though, she supposed, organized crime was good at covering up their business, so who knew how many there actually were), and 2 in a week was very, very unusual. It could have easily been 5 animals. Rampages like that were unheard of; it

"Well," Nick murmured, "if you had any doubt our mystery assailants were the same animal, I think I can put that to rest."

She glanced over, ears twitching. "What do you mean?"

He held up a picture.

Judy leaned in, and her eyes widened. The picture wasn't complicated; just a small yellow post-it on a wall. Written in blood, in messy block capitals were the words:

"Having fun yet? I am."


	7. Chapter 7

**Day 3**

 _ZPD Precinct #1- City Center_

 _8:18 AM_

"Dismissed!" Bogo tossed the clipboard onto the podium and stood to leave, along with the rest of the day shift.

"Sir?" Judy called, "could I have a moment with you in your office?"

"What is it?"

"Something personal, sir."

Bogo's ears pricked, but he didn't turn around. "Walk with me."

As he left through the side door, she slipped through behind him, Nick close behind.

"Would this 'personal' information have anything to do with our case?" Bogo asked softly.

"I'm afraid it does."

His features set into a frown. "That's just lovely." He picked up the pace, enough that Judy had to jog to keep up. "How'd you come by this information?"  
"Straight from the top."

"How big?"  
"Very."

Bogo ushered them into his office, sitting down heavily, kneading his forehead. "Well, spit it out."

"Mr- ah, my informant," she said carefully, "had ties with our victims- Mr. Alces, to be exact. And he gave us information on two others he is well acquainted with. One dead, one injured badly in the same way our victims were. He gave us a set of images, as well. The most important one was left at the scene of this second attack.

"It was a post-it note with a sentence scribbled in blood on it, sir." She placed the photograph on the desk. "Like our message. And it looks like the two are carrying a narrative."

Bogo examined the photo carefully, and leaned back. "How long ago were the attacks?"

"Two in the same night, a few days before the one in the Grand Pangolin."

The police chief sighed. "Then this is already worse than I thought. The attack we thought was first was actually the second, and that means the death of Mr. Alces was not an accidental escalation of the crime.

"And targeting just one of the 'families' in town? Whoever this is, they're already deep into the underground networks if they know just who to target and when they're vulnerable. That means it's not just a spree for the sake of it. There's a purpose here."

"We thought the same, sir," Judy said.

There was a long pause. "...You two weren't here twenty years ago. You probably hadn't ever even visited Zootopia at that point. But this looks just like something from those times. I spent a decade trying to make sure this type of crime was stamped out for good, and I thought that we'd succeeded.

"But it appears someone is bent on bringing it back."

"What are you getting at?" Nick asked.

"Go take a look in the archives. Have Clawhauser help you. He came in at the very end of it. You'll understand better that way then if I told you." The chief stared down at the picture he held in one hand. "It's enough for me to say that if my fears are right, the crime wave we're dealing with now could be just a drop in the bucket compared to what happens next if we can't stop it." His voice was bleak.

Judy's breath caught. Bogo was always gruff, but she'd never, _never,_ heard him sound like this.

He wasn't angry or frustrated. No, he was scared, and she couldn't even imagine what it would take to scare an animal who didn't even flinch at the scenes of pedestrian accidents or murders.

So what was it that could be so much worse than what she'd seen just a few days ago? The blood on the walls and the ceilings, the limp and crumpled bodies of people she knew...

Judy choked back a gag as she left the room.

"You OK?" Nick asked

"Yeah," she said, waving him away. "But I've never head the chief like that. Whatever he's thinking about, it's bad."

"Yeah," Nick said. "Notice how he couldn't even bring himself to tell us himself? We have to go through the archives during a time I know he was here in the ZPD." His eyes caught hers. "I don't think we're going to find something pretty down there."


	8. Chapter 8

_ZPD Precinct #1- Basement_

 _8:31 AM_

The door clicked as Clawhauser waved his card in front of the scanner. "There we go," he said. "Why is the Chief having us dig around down here, Judy?"

"He said to research what was going on 20 years ago," she replied.

"20 years ago, huh? Hm, that's going to be in this room... there." He pointed over to a room near the back of the short, dim hallway. "I haven't been in there more than once or twice- those are all old cases and old newspaper clippings. Not much reason to go back there unless a cold case pops up."

That door, too, required an ID, and as it unlocked the trio were greeted with a puff of dust and the smell of old paper. "Looks like you're not the only one not to visit this room," Nick said. "Nobody's been back here in months."

"Probably," the cheetah said with a shrug. "Like I said, there's not many reasons to, and I don't think reading old police reports is something fun enough to do when I'm not on-duty at the dispatch desk." He coughed. "The records here aren't even digitized. We're going to be going through a _lot_ of dusty boxes. If you two want to go get started, I'm gonna go grab a coffee and my box of donuts."

"Yeah, we got it," Judy said. "Could you grab me a coffee, too?"

"Absolutely. Officer Wilde?"

"I'm good, had my morning cuppa already." Clawhauser nodded and left, the door closing behind him.

The room was lit by a few flickering lightbulbs, the old yellow fluorescent bulbs. The entire room was lined with filing cabinets, and stacked on top almost to the ceiling were cardboard boxes. In the middle of the room was one very large table and a few chairs.

"That's a lot of police reports," Nick said with a whistle. "I guess the ZPD has always been pretty busy."

"Looks like these files go from about 25 years ago to 19 years ago," Judy said, scrutinizing the labels on a few of the filing cabinets. "Most of them look like they sit around 21-19 years, there's not much stuff from older than that."

"Huh, interesting," Nick said. "So, something must have happened two decades ago, then."

"Something big," Judy agreed. "And long- otherwise it would have only been a spike for the 1 year, instead of 3."

"Big and long, eh?"

"If you make a joke about that I will put your muzzle through the table."

"Wow, Carrots. _Aggressively_ not interested, hm?"

She rolled her eyes. "Spare me."

"You are the angriest little bunny I know," he said. "Course, you're the only rabbit I really know, so I don't have much to go off of."

She threw a file at his face, scattering paper over the floor and making him sneeze. "Stop snarking and start searching, you dumb fox."

 _9:10 AM_

"Got anything, Ben?" Judy asked as she flipped through a stack of audit reports.

"Nothing." He was poring over a pile of newspaper clippings. "Besides a lot of petty thefts."

"Nick?"

"Same as the cheetah," Nick said, though he didn't sound as bored. "A whole bunch of police reports on burglaries, pickpockets, drug deals, the usual small stuff, all over town. A few names keep popping up over and over, though; I'm getting a pretty good handle on who the Weaseltons were 20 years ago."

She snorted. "Oh, so he's a noun now?"

"Sure," Nick replied. "Small, sneaky, not all that bright. Generally a stooge or a pawn of a dealer or organized crime. Steals a lot of small, low-value items, spends a lot of time paying fines or in jail for misdemeanors, but never any felonies since they're too small-time for that. Maybe they run cons or deal drugs instead of steal. Fits Weaselton to a T, doesn't it?"

She nodded, and he continued, "There's always a bunch of them anywhere you go. I suppose I was one of them before you found me." He leaned over the reports he was reading over. "I know the methods. If you're small-time enough, the authorities don't care unless you tread on their toes. Individually, they aren't worth the effort. But, if you keep track of a _bunch_ of them, you've got a different story. Especially if you can get a handle on the fences or the dealers _above_ them. Then, you can start tracking organized crime, see what areas they're focused on and what they're interested in."

"How'd you learn that?" Judy asked, surprised.

"Sounds like a detective's tactics, doesn't it?" he snorted. "But when you _are_ one of the Weaseltons, if you've got the brains to do what I just said it gives you an edge. And it lets you know where more patrols are going to show up in the next few days- right where the others have been hired to lurk. Since I wasn't interested in working for organized crime, especially after Mr. Big, I didn't use it to climb. I used it to stay under the radar. It's why my record, unlike Weaselton's," he straightened his tie with a smirk, "was absolutely clean."

"Okay," she said, "But what does this have to do with the reports you're going through?"  
He pointed to the haphazard piles he'd spread out around him. "I've sorted these out into a dozen piles. One of them is for random cases, one-timers and juveniles. Another is for the serious stuff, murders, assault, other felonies. But these other ten?" He tapped one pile. "They're the most prolific visitors to the precinct cells I've found. And watching their patterns over time has told me something.

"Six of these were working for one group and four for another. Their areas of work, their patterns, are too coordinated to be coincidence. They move around the city, almost opposite from each other, circling the city over a period of a few weeks.

"But, right about here- February, 20 years ago- all of a sudden they're all doing their own thing . It's like the organizations above them were gone. Or maybe had something else taking their attention. Then, in April, they're back in a group. But only one group. Now they're all working together, which doesn't match what's been going on in the past."

He looked up at Judy and Benjamin. "To me, it looks like there was a contest between two gangs, or maybe two syndicates, and one of them won. Decisively. I haven't tracked down the mammals coordinating these groups, but I'm working on that now. If I can, maybe we can find something that'll show us who they worked for in turn, all the way up to the top."`

Judy agreed, "That's an interesting way to look for clues, but now that you mention that, I think I found something." She spread out a few of the audit reports. "These weren't in order, so I didn't see it, but if you arrange them chronologically-" she shuffled the reports around for a minute. "Then, you see a pattern, centered around that February. The amount of occupied cells and the number of crimes reported go up steadily every month since about that June, but then in January it spikes, and gets even higher in February and March. Then, come April, all of a sudden it's down below the previous June." She ran her finger over the final report for February. "In these two months ZPD almost ran out of funds entirely. Another month and they wouldn't be able to pay officers. They had to get an emergency increase to the budget as it was. What would happen if the ZPD couldn't pay for equipment _or_ personnel?"

Benjamin shivered. "Absolute chaos."

She nodded. "It's good whatever was going on stopped that month, or who knows what might have happened. Maybe something like the Echo Cave riots way back when." She looked over at the cheetah. "I'm gonna help Nick check the police reports. I want to see if the crimes being reported are what Nick's talking about, or anything more serious. A gang war might have knife fights or drivebys, maybe even planned hits. There's no way something like that would go unreported. Could you check through the newspapers to see if there's any stories like that?"

"Mhm," he nodded, taking a bite of his third donut. "'M on it, Judy."


	9. Chapter 9

_9:41 AM_

"Judy, I have something!" Clawhauser called. "You'll want to see this."

"What is it?" she asked, placing the papers she'd been sorting through down.

He slid the newspaper he'd been looking at over. It was dusty and yellowed, but the headline of the _Zootopipa Reporter_ stood out as much as it ever had: _BUST OF THE DECADE!_ Underneath it, in smaller capital letters, it boasted, OVER TEN THOUSAND WEAPONS SEIZED IN FIERCE SHOOTOUT WITH POLICE!

"Whoa," she said. "Why have none of us ever heard about this?"

"Keep reading and maybe you'll understand," Clawhauser said.

She peered down at the article, reading:

 _JAN 13_

 _Today in the docks district of Zootopia itself, the ZPD seized over ten thousand weapons, valued at over 5 million, hidden in a warehouse located there. Gang guards over the building engaged in a fierce shootout with police, using many weapons presumably taken from the warehouse, that lasted for more than 5 hours. Police finally stormed the building. Eight gangmembers were arrested and thirty-seven killed, but their huge stash of illegal weaponry exacted a startling toll on the officers that stormed the building. Forty-two ZPD officers were injured, twenty-three seriously, and 9 officers were killed in the fighting._

 _The ZPD has asked for any leads on where this massive cache of weapons came from and is looking to identify any of the weapons as having been stolen._

 _The actual contents of the massive warehouse have not been revealed to the public, but a source who wishes to remain anonymous told the_ Reporter _that the cache included many weapons not usually available to the public, including weapons from overseas that are prohibited within Zootopia. Reports of RPGs, fully automatic weapons, and grenades are being denied, but news coverage of the raid seems to show all three._

 _The names of the dead and injured are not yet available to the public, pending notification of next-of-kin. The_ Reporter _expects to publish these lists in the weeks to come._

 _This is a further boost to the deadliest twelve months in the ZPD's century-long history, with a total of 29 officers killed and 194 wounded._

"That's insane," she said. "More than fifty ZPD officer casualties? How many officers were even in the ZPD at that time?" She looked over to Nick. "Did the financial records say anything about that?"

"Um." He started flipping through some of the ledgers he'd already gone through. "Let me check… aha! Here we go. Looks like… a hair over 5,000 uniformed officers, with about 4,500 out and on the streets.

"That's…" she pulled out her carrot pen and hastily scribbled some figures. "That's almost five percent of the entire patrolling force!" she said in horror. "And this article was in January—there were two more months of this…" She handed Nick the newspaper as he rounded the table and held out his paw to read it for himself.

Nick frowned as he skimmed the article. "No wonder the ZPD had to call for emergency funding. Even if only a few more officers were injured during those two months, they'd be spread thin as more and more things popped up—letting more and more slip through the cracks, meaning more incidents happen. A vicious cycle, all targeted right at the ZPD." He looked up. "Imagine what would have happened if the violence hadn't slacked off, if the ZPD had run out of funding. What would they have done?"

Clawhauser broke in, "There's actually a procedure for that, did you know?" The rabbit and fox both looked at him incredulously. "I'm not joking!" he insisted. "Bogo put it together himself."

The pair exchanged glances. "If he was there during all this… it would make sense," Judy said.

"What is it?" Nick asked the cheetah.

"I don't remember off the top of my head, if we want to clean all this up I can go to the dispatcher procedure book up on my desk and let you read it." He dusted off the newspaper page and slid it back inside its protective plastic case, placing the whole box back up onto the shelf.

 _10:03 AM_

"Right, here's the procedure book…" the cheetah mumbled, flipping through it. "And here it is!" He pointed to the page he'd turned to, deep in the middle of the thick binder. "Says if that happens, the ZPD is supposed to send most of the officers temporarily home and focus on the government buildings and the financial district."

"And leave the rest of Zootopia out to dry?" Nick asked.

Clawhauser scanned the page. "It looks like it, yeah." He closed the book. "Sounds callous, but I know Bogo—he wouldn't do anything he didn't have to if it meant putting people in the city at stake."

Judy idly tapped her badge with a finger. "So, Bogo meant to tell us… this is what he's afraid of? Having to pull back to Precinct 1, here, and abandoning the rest of the city?"

"I guess," Nick said with a shrug. "But I think I have a hunch on why he didn't just come out and tell us himself." He looked back to his partner. "If you let me take another look-see in the old documents downstairs I might be able to find out."

"Please," she replied. "I'll go ask Bogo if I can just foot patrol around the central square, maybe do any paperwork that needs doing."

He nodded and started to head back to the basement, as she turned towards the stairs. Clawhauser remained at the dispatch desk, chatting up his temporary replacement as he chowed down on yet another donut.

She took the stairs, two at a time despite her size, and pushed open the door to Bogo's office.

He looked up from his desk. "What is it?"

She explained her request, and he simply nodded, going back to looking at whatever it was he had on his desk.

As Judy closed the door, she couldn't help but notice there were a few more frown wrinkles on the chief's face then usual.


End file.
